Avril Tynan is a Research Council of Finland Fellow (2023‒27) at the University of Turku and editor of Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies. She has previously held research positions at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Essen, Germany and the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies. Her current project, Narratives of Recovery, takes a critical perspective on the role and representation of illness and recovery in contemporary literature. She has published widely on the ethics and aesthetics of illness and disability, dementia, trauma and old age in francophone, anglophone and other literatures.

Reading Recovery: Narratives of Recovery in Culture, Medicine, and Society (NarRec) (Research Council of Finland, 2023-2027) PI Avril Tynan

This interdisciplinary project studies the representation, meaning and value of recovery from illness in culture, medicine and society. It explores the relationship between recovery and narrative from a critical perspective that interrogates narrative’s claim to cure. It argues that recovery functions as an organisational tool of medical and social management that has the power to grant or restrict access to biomedical and economic resources and services, and to systems of care, relationships and freedoms. The data includes fiction and non-fiction literature, film, mass media and social media written in English, French and Finnish languages. The site of research is the University of Turku. The project is linked to the SELMA Centre and the Research Centre for Culture and Health.

#ENDOS (Erasmus+ 2023-2026) Project partner Avril Tynan

The #ENDOs project is a European initiative that educates and supports adults dealing with chronic diseases, with a specific focus on endometriosis. With a potential reach of 14 million women across Europe – who often refer to themselves as “ENDOs,” this project aspires to empower these individuals to take a more active role in their healthcare journey. The project’s innovative approach incorporates the world of art and culture as skill developers, creating user-centric learning tools that aim to build an engaged community of ENDOs and their caregivers. Through performing and visual arts, storytelling, narrative medicine, and digital tools, healthcare experts and ENDOs will facilitate their understanding and communication with each other.

The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Education and Training Programme.

At Royal Holloway, University of London I taught French language and culture to undergraduate students and public audiences from 2012-2018. 

At the University of Turku, I have taught and co-taught a number of courses for students of comparative literature, including Holocaust literature, narratives of mental (ill)health, and narratives of illness.